Our First Good-Bye's

It was a very enjoyable week of warm weather with overnight temperatures of 19C and highs of 28C and humidity of 80%. Lets say we sweated a lot.

Jim and I had offered to do a large stir fry which quickly turned in to a potluck for the volunteers and most of the staff on Monday night. We worked ahead and cut up all our veggies and the farmer sausage on Sunday afternoon. We had about 25 people in attendance with lots of food which was enjoyed by all. It was a good time of visiting and recalling past years experiences with a picture show.

Sue, LaVonne and I continued the 1st and 2nd coat of paint at the office building Monday through Thursday till coffee break. I then went to help Carol in priming the kitchen in the apartment. There seems to be a final rush to get things done before the volunteers all leave.

LaVonne painted the front and back doors.

Carol cleaning and sanding the cabinets that are to be used in the new kitchen in the Cardinal apartment.

Neil asked us to paint the gate posts with the new camp colors.

Neil wearing his Canadian t-shirt on Tuesday. He is already realizing how much he will miss all his volunteers. He is in his 40's but says he loves being with us. That fit totally with the devotional Jim shared this week about "Young Old People".

Ladies from the Brooksville and Spring Lake area had a quilting retreat on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. This was their first time at Lakewood Retreat.

Dennis and Jim continued with the new kitchen on Monday by putting up the wall and ceiling sheeting. On Thursday afternoon Carol, Sue and I completed the priming. Due to the rough plywood wall sheeting about 2 gallons of paint was needed. While this was happening others were painting the kitchen cabinets in the paint shop. 

A pantry was part of the cabinet pieces received, but it did not fair well in its travels, so some reassembly and enforcements were needed. It got installed in the next room which has easy access from the kitchen.

The first couple departed on Thursday heading back home to Ohio, in time to celebrate their son's 50th birthday. Goodbye's were said on Thursday morning at coffee time.

A group shot to remember the volunteer crew of 2019. What a great bunch. Two of the couples have already agreed to return next winter.

More flowers are showing up everyday. These Lantana flowers are along a fence by the driveway.

Enjoying a peaceful after supper walk through the campground.

Amish Snowbirds in Florida?

Saturday evening we enjoyed a gospel quartet concert by the New Speer Family in Brooksville. A grandson has revived the family tradition of singing this music written by his grandparents. We felt the quadriplegic lead singer stole the show by his expressive singing. Musical groups like to winter in warmer places like Florida too. On Sunday evening we heard another group called the Bonetrager Family in Spring Hill FL. They were a family of 12 who were all very musical.

There are always places to paint. Sue and I completed the painting of Cardinal's exterior and then moved to the office building which had been freshly pressure washed and waiting for its new look.

Jim and Dennis continued their work of renovating the sunroom into a kitchen. The tasks completed this week were the rough-in of the wiring and plumbing as well as the insulation.

Part of the reno required the moving of the volunteer's washer and dryer to a different location. Gerri prepared the water and drain lines in advance so the appliances could be moved without to much disruption to any of the eight users.

 Jim connects the new dryer plug.

Lunch at Der Dutchman Restaurant in Sarasota FL with our volunteer family prior to our afternoon and evening at the fundraiser BBQ.

Wednesday was a day of change from our usual schedule. Our whole group of 16 volunteers headed to Sarasota to help with the 4th Annual Fundraising Chicken Barbecue. The funds raised are for their summer children's camp.

The food is prepared by a caterer together with  members from Lakewood Retreat board. We as Lakewood volunteers helped with setup of chairs, tables, covering tables, wrapping cutlery and bagging cookies and then serving the food. The food served was bbq chicken, baked beans, coleslaw, roll and a cookie.

This event was held at Pinecraft Park in the Amish Snowbird community in Florida. This unique community is home to many Amish and Conservative Mennonites who are winter snowbirds from Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

To read more check out this website at

www.visitsarasota.com/article/pinecraft-amish-snowbird-community-sarasota

The event turned out to be a success again despite the rainy and cool day. We handed out 700-750 servings on a donation basis.

Since horse and buggy travel is not allowed in Sarasota most Amish/Mennonites use bicycles or trikes to get around. These are included with their cottage rental. All ages make use of these.

Now this is a unique way for a family of seven to go for a ride. Some mechanical minded builder created this contraption so everyone could help with the pedaling effort.

 Some Amish men sitting around and playing the card game of Rook.

On Thursday morning Valentine's Day we came to breakfast and a fully decorated volunteer coffee room welcomed us. We were surprised to see a Valentine's display and gift bags for each of the volunteers as a thank-you from Lakewood.

Our Service Term at Lakewood is Half Done

The locals say this has been a wet winter compared to normal. This week it feels like we have turned the corner from chilly days to nice warm and sunny ones. With the warmer temps also come more mosquitoes which I don't tolerate well.

Monday morning after devotions and instructions for the day we all helped with moving tables and chairs to the porch area. For the next three days the dining hall floors will be stripped, cleaned and waxed by Dave and Carol.

Monday night our whole group including our boss Neil and his wife Patty went to The Great Catch Restaurant in Zephyrhills for supper. It was Monday - all you can eat Shrimp - but Jim and I opted for fish.

I continued with palmetto trimming for a day and half, after which I moved to painting at the maintenance shed and the back, side and porch wall of Cardinal - the 2nd volunteer apartment.

LaVonne pressure washing the office building in preparation for the painting to happen there this coming week.

Jim & Dennis continued with the kitchen reno Monday. The new 36" door created extra work to fit in the rough opening that happened to be too small. Jim has been feeling unproductive this week on the kitchen job. He has taken on the wiring job apprehensively, trying to establish where to place receptacles for the kitchen counter when you don't know the layout or what size the cabinets will be. Earlier we were told that new cabinets would be purchased, but late Friday we saw the truckload of used ones, which they got from the Habitat Restore for free. Soooo.......hopefully things come together next week.

Jim looking over the cabinet boxes and contemplating his options.

The tiny house is making some progress. Here are some pictures and the blueprint of it. Some Mennonite folk from Sarasota are the ones working on it.

Looking in from the front door. What looks like ladders are really part of the pocket door frames.

The loft without any windows. Still wondering how someone will get up there.

Travel in Florida takes concentration for old folks like us. From learning the use of toll highways, crowded interstates with 70+ mph to curvy very narrow country roads without shoulders and often having a deep drop off from the edge of the pavement right next to the white line. So far we have traveled safely.

A morning shot through the palmettos of the RV's on volunteer lane.

The Azaehlia's are in full bloom and are stunning. Spring is coming! This evening shot looks a little like the garden of Eden.

Time is Going Fast - Week Three

We finished our third week of volunteering here at Lakewood Retreat.

Puzzling on a cool and rainy weekend.

The ladies washed all the chairs and tables in the dining hall, as well as wiping the napkin holders and salt & pepper shakers. This task took us two days and this was in preparation for the stripping, cleaning and waxing the dining room floors which will be happening this next week.

Jim and Dennis teamed up Monday through Thursday making renovations to the second volunteer suite. It has taken several weeks for the management to agree on where to place the kitchen that needs to be built. So it will now be in the former laundry room/sunroom. First step was to remove the large screened windows and then frame in the one vinyl slider window they had. The request of a new window of equal size around the corner did not materialize, but a smaller one would have to do. Fortunately the exterior sheeting was still available to match the old. The exterior door was purchased in the wrong size, so that will stay for next week. The layout of the appliances and counter is still in flux so the window position over the sink is unknown.

To give the camp a fresh and well cared for look the "Green Team" of LaVonne, Sue and myself kept on trimming more dry palmetto branches in areas that were highly visible to visitors of the camp. We kept some of the guys busy hauling away the palmetto debris pile.

I found this injured Luna Moth.

The resurrection fern springs to life after a rain fall.

My prize of the day was this air plant.

Our Friday activity was a trip to Orlando to visit our MDS volunteering friends Keith and Carol who have been winter volunteers at Wycliffe Bible Translators for the past 11 years. Keith gave us a tour of the main building, starting with the Discovery Centre explaining the history and purpose of the organization.

Each mannequin represented a country and its traditional dress and language.

Annette's name in the script of numerous languages.

In the Wycliffe Associates building we were shown a three dimensional printer being used to create plastic cards with raised symbols for teaching blind and deaf people the Bible.

In the chapel building the ladies had a room for sewing projects to be used for fundraising. In another room used stamps are sorted and bagged to be sold for raising funds.

The warehouse has a work shop for equipment repairs and included a print on demand and book binding department, which of course interested Jim.

We had a great time catching up over lunch hour.